1. “In LLI lessons, texts are matched to children’s reading ability.  Students read every day at their instructional level with teacher support as well as at their independent level with little or no support.  Matching books to readers and then providing  strong instructional support provides the base for effective processing.”  (Fountas & Pinnell, 1999)

 2. “LLI lessons provide systematic instruction in phonemic awareness.  Phonemic awareness - the ability to hear and manipulate distinct sounds in words - is one of the best predictors of how easily children will learn to read.”  See examples below.  Other examples include rhymes & tongue twisters.

3. Phonics Instruction - Lessons provide preplanned instruction  in phonics based on a developmental scope and sequence for letter / sound relationships and spelling patterns.

4. Fluency is developed through the integration of rereading texts in daily lessons. Research provides evidence that “repeated and monitored oral reading improves reading fluency and overall reading achievement.”

5.  “LLI lessons provide daily opportunity to read new texts with teacher support. Texts are carefully sequenced to help students apply what they know from reading previous texts when they begin with a new text.  In particular, books are sequenced to build a reading vocabulary of high frequency words as well as words that need to be decoded.”

6.  “LLI lessons provide explicit instruction on comprehension. During the introduction of new books and during the discussion after reading, teachers take pre-planned actions to demonstrate effective comprehending strategies, expecting children to take them on immediately as they read, write, and talk about the text. During reading, teachers prompt children to use these strategies; after reading, they help the children focus on the strategies.  Comprehension strategies are organized along a leveled continuum, making this instruction sequenced and systematic.”

7.  “LLI lessons provide opportunities for writing.  Every other day in each ten-lesson sequence, the children write for fifteen minutes.  Reading and writing are integrally connected.  Saying words slowly in order to write them helps children attend to the sequence of sounds and connect them to letters. (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2001a) Writing also helps them increase and extend their comprehension of a new text.”

8.   “LLI lessons provide opportunities to learn a core of  high   frequency words.  Children must take words apart to decode them, but it is also important for them to develop a core of words that they can process rapidly and automatically.  Short and frequent words such as “the” or “and” are not decoded every time they are encountered in text, but rather are remembered for their visual features.  In  LLI lessons, children build words with magnetic letters and work with high frequency  word cards, which they also take home. Rapid word recognition frees attention for thinking about the meaning of the text.”

9. “LLI lessons are designed to expand vocabulary and develop oral language. Oral language is a foundation for children’s development of reading and writing skills.  Through conversations with “expert others”-teachers and other adults-children expand both their oral language abilities and their academic thinking skills. (Vygotsky, 1998). LLI teachers use conversation to model advanced vocabulary and complex English grammar and to expand and enrich the language that children use. Moreover, the talk is centered on literary texts, providing students with opportunities to use the new words and grammatical structures in the books they are reading”     (Snow, Burns, and Griffin, 1998)

10.  “LLI lessons are highly motivating for children and teachers.  Instruction is ineffective if children experience reading as drudgery or ‘skill and drill.’  The National Reading  Panel Report cautions that ‘the motivation of both students and their  teachers is a critical ingredient of success.’   The LLI books are matched to the children’s current reading abilities and provide opportunities for daily success, providing positive feedback both to the students and their teachers. Texts are selected and sequenced not only for success, but also for enjoyment and continuity from one text to another.  Writing experiences are designed to extend the enjoyment of the texts.”

11.  “LLI provides a direct, practical link to classroom instruction. Teachers are provided with suggestions and materials that children can take back to their classrooms.  The suggested activities are simple and extend what children have learned in the lesson. Activities include phonics work such as writing words, matching, or sorting pictures and words.  Other activities include writing to extend the Take-Home Book version of the book they read in their LLI lesson the previous day.  This Take-Home Book supports more independent reading at home and in the classroom.”  (Ambruster,  Lehr , & Osborn, 2001).

12.  “LLI lessons facilitate a home-school literacy connection.  LLI activities support a home-school connection for children around literacy learning.  They are given a specific word study or writing activity to do at home as well as the Take-Home Book version of every book they read in their lessons.”

Lessons focus on the following:

Kindergarten

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• Learning letter names and sounds of the alphabet
• Blending sounds to make words
Using 1-1 matching (pointing to each word) while reading
• Practicing grade appropriate high frequency words
• Articulating and recording sounds in words while writing

First and Second Grade

• Matching texts to children's reading ability
• Systematic instruction in phonemic awareness
• Systematic instruction in phonics
• Daily practice of oral reading to increase reading fluency
• Explicit instruction on comprehension
• Writing/responding to reading
• Learning a core of high frequency words
• Expanding vocabulary

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• Matching texts to children's reading ability
• Systematic instruction in phonemic awareness
• Systematic instruction in phonics
• Daily practice of oral reading to increase reading fluency
• Explicit instruction on comprehension
• Writing/responding to reading
• Learning a core of high frequency words
• Expanding vocabulary

Top

Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

1.  Heinemann “Research Base for Leveled Literacy Intervention”  http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/research/LLIResearchBase.pdf  p. 1

2.   Ibid p.1

3.  Ibid p. 2  Cited from: Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001).  p. 6 

4.  Heinemann “Research Base for Leveled Literacy Intervention” http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/research/LLIResearchBase.pdf   p. 2

5.  Ibid p. 2

6.  Ibid p. 3

7.  Ibid p. 3

8.  Ibid p. 3

9.  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2001a & b). P. 8

10. Heinemann “Research Base for Leveled Literacy Intervention” http://www.heinemann.com/fountasandpinnell/research/LLIResearchBase.pdf  p. 3

11. Ibid p. 3

12. Ibid p. 3

Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001). Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2001a & b). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: an Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and its Implications for Teaching Instruction.  Reports of the Subgroups. Washington, D.C.: National Institutes of Health.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (2001a & b). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read: an Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and its Implications for Teaching Instruction.  Reports of the Subgroups. Washington, D.C.: National Institutes of Health.